Found this AMAZING website showing Toronto’s future growth, thought y’all would enjoy this as much as I did: Downtown Core — Stephen Velasco
Grey = existing, Blue = under construction, Red = planned/approved
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Do you believe RCC is capable of doing what DCC just did?
Earlier this week, Durham City Council officially adopted NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide.
The move will unify design standards across departments and incorporate people-first transportation infrastructure 
into construction standards for private developments.
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@trueurbanist yes but I don’t think Raleigh is lagging in support of unified street design and improved bike/walkability standards. I mean every new development clearly improves on the bike/ped infrastructure according to a standard, are we sure Raleigh hasn’t already adopted this?
Many of the simple traffic calming measures pictured have been implemented in Raleigh and the city is constantly iterating. Good for Durham and if we haven’t formally adopted this we should, but let’s not act like this isn’t already in motion in Raleigh. BRT, person st project, lake wheeler rd project, Whitaker mill rd, village district/Oberlin rd redesign, dozens of aftermarket roundabouts in east raleigh, etc. We’re going for Vision Zero. Like everyone else I wish we could fix every street overnight and move faster. But Im not going to act like Raleigh isn’t addressing and prioritizing these things. Remember google maps is missing half of our bike lanes.
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Seriously, if we can’t get federal funding for a fully fleshed out commuter rail system what is preventing us from taking the Nashville route and building an absolutely barebones system? The Nashville commuter rail rides on CSX rail. There’s hardly rail traffic between Raleigh and Durham to begin with and NCRR will get new train sets in 2032-ish. Maybe we can get the old trains and run a limited service. If Nashville has no shame running the WeGo Star why should we be so reserved?
Even if it doesn’t immediately produce high passenger numbers, this project could build momentum and create a foundation for future, larger-scale rail investments in the region. Recently, NCDOT secured over $100 million to improve this route, so progress is already underway. The bottom line is, waiting for the ‘perfect’ solution could hold us back from the tangible, incremental steps we could be taking right now.
I know I’m beating a dead horse here but man wish we had better regional organization than GoTriangle.
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Need someone to LEAD the charge and, maybe some luck…
There are still going be some advancements for rail in the region but some of the money is now planned to be allocated for bare-bone BRT projects along our highways connecting RDU.
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Not sure if this is the right thread for this @dtraleigh, but I thought it was worth a share. We just got back from Salzburg, Austria where I found this beautiful street (Franz Josef Strasse) that I hoped Fayetteville St. could one day resemble:
A single lane of traffic each way with parking on either side (parallel on one side, turn-in parking on the other) flanked by large sycamores which created a beautiful urban tree tunnel. Outwards from that were two generously wide bike lanes with curbs (not lines), and finally about a 20-foot sidewalk on either side. I was guessing at the widths, but it seemed like this arrangement would easily fit along Fayetteville St., or any other of our downtown streets for that matter.
It was surprisingly quiet even with traffic. And no matter how you traveled (car, bike, pedestrian), everyone seemed out of each other’s way. Add in some street level retail/restaurants, and it would be a winner IMO.
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If the Triangle got a BRT system from Raleigh to Durham (like true separated lane kind how they have in Argentina - Buenos Aires Metrobús) and it had stops at key hubs, it would redefine the region in so many positive ways.
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Just a couple shots of the apartment (and office/retail eventually) with an actual public parking deck built in that is going up in downtown Cary.
And a water feature
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Interesting decision to use the cemetery for a water feature…
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In Wroclaw, Poland and even in Berlin there are hip nightlife neighborhoods based on raised railway tracks. If Durham and NCRR could work together and this is legal in the US Durham could have a solution to their railway cutting through their downtown issue. Raise the track, build a walkable avenue around it.
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Kind of a bit ironic that we stayed at the Liberty hotel in Boston. It used to be a prison that was converted. Here are some cool photos.
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The wealthiest city in the county turned down both development bonds. At least the county at large got the library funding passed.
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Clearly the timing was not good for Cary voters to approve new bonds. What I have not heard, and maybe someone here knows, is how much this would have raised the typical Cary resident’s property tax bill.
“Approval of both bonds would have increased Cary’s property tax rate by 9 cents over three staggered periods in 2026, 2028 and 2030. That would equal about $90 per year for each $100,000 of assessed home value.” - Axios Raleigh
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I mean while I understand not wanting your property taxes to go up for something you 99% likely will never visit or use… but damn that doesn’t seem like much of a raise lol
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With Cary’s median home price $623K according to Zillow, I agree, they can afford the extra $500 or so in annual property tax. Big missed opportunity here for Cary.
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